Tolentino backs passage of legislated wage hike

Senate Majority Leader Francis Tolentino believes a wage hike bill must be passed urgently, backing the call made by the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines.  (FILE PHOTO)

MANILA, Philippines—Senate Majority Leader Francis Tolentino believes a legislated wage hike must be passed urgently.

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In a statement, Tolentino said he fully supports the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines’ call for an increase in workers’ salaries, saying that it is “timely to push” for one amid the continued rise in expenses.

“In the Senate, we already passed Senate Bill No. 2534 on third reading last February 19, 2024. The bill seeks an increase of P100 pesos in the daily minimum wage of workers in the private sector nationwide. We are only awaiting for the counterpart version of the House, which I believe calls for a P200-peso increase,” said Tolentino.

He said historically, the last legislated wage hike was in 1989 — about 36 years ago.

“Simula 1989 hanggang ngayon ay hindi na naulit yun. Yung pagtugon sa pangangailan ng ating manggagawa ay hindi lang dapat ipaubaya na lang sa isang wage board kung ‘di sa pangangailangan ng ngayon. At bilang kinatawan ng mamamayan yung mga hinalal nating mambabatas ay may karapatan na  baguhin din iyon,” he explained.

(From 1989 until now, that has never happened again. Responding to the needs of our workers should not be left to a wage board but to the needs of today. And as representatives of the people, our elected legislators have the right to change that as well.)

The senator believes that the wage increase issue is interconnected with other important societal issues in the Philippines, such as food availability, growth stunting, and the competitiveness of the country’s future workforce.